Computer information systems typically include multiple computing devices. The computing devices may include workstation computers, network equipment, server computers, and the like. The computing devices may generate performance data. For example, a computing device may generate a series of time-stamped data points indicative of Central Processing Unit (CPU) usage.
Performance management systems collect and process performance data. The performance data may be used to troubleshoot past incidents, to report on present performance, and to plan for future growth. For example, granular past performance data may be used to identify a root cause of a network outage. Performance data indicative of present performance may be used to demonstrate compliance with service-level agreements (SLAs).
As the computer information system grows, the amount of performance data becomes significant, and the effectiveness of legacy performance management systems degrades. For example, where a single, central reporting computer receives data from many collectors, the central reporting computer is often responsible for the storage and processing of the performance data for the entire computer information system. The reporting computer becomes overloaded with information.
The cost-benefit of scaling such legacy systems is limited. The central reporting computer's processing and storage hardware capability may be increased, so that it can process more performance data. The granularity of the performance data may be reduced, so that there is less performance data to process. The former makes the legacy system more expensive, and the latter makes the legacy system less useful. For example, a network traffic spike lasting five seconds is all but impossible to diagnose if the performance data granularity is set at 60-second samples; however, such a spike can disrupt many applications, including Voice over Internet Protocol, financial trading transactions, and other latency-sensitive communications. As the demand for performance transparency in computer information systems increases, the cost-effective delivery of performance data takes on a strategic importance.